Tips For Aerating Your House In The Winter

Canadian winters have a solid reputation for being quite daunting, from heavy snowfall to ice, sleet, and rain. It is no surprise that Canadians spend most of their winters indoors.

But too much time inside can be hazardous to your health in many known and unknown ways. Sometimes, the air inside is even more clogged, dirtier, and toxic as compared to outside; this is especially true for inside winter air. All these hazards and toxins are created because you don’t open windows or doors in winter - you don’t want to lose the expensive warmth created by your heating system - making it difficult to ventilate your house.

Also read: HOW TO KEEP YOUR ROOM VENTILATED IN WINTER

Fortunately, there are some effective ways you can ventilate your home in winters without letting go of the heat produced by your HVAC system.

Importance Of Ventilation In Winter

Headache coughs, breathing difficulties, and other related conditions in winter are all caused by dirty and clogged indoor air. Therefore, good ventilation is extremely important for the health and infrastructure of your home. By ventilating your home, you actually replace the clogged, polluted, and humid indoor air with the fresh outside air. This helps you control all the breathing problems and other health and infrastructure problems caused by a humid and moist environment. Ventilation creates a pleasant and fresh environment in your home - a place where you spend most of your time in winter.

Common Adverse Effects Of Poor Ventilation

The most common impacts lack of ventilation can have on you, and your home is

Increased risks of molds on the walls of your home.
Poor concentration.
Hypertension and respiratory diseases
Allergies and other allergy-related conditions
Low immunity
Discomfort and worse physical conditions
Dampness or formation of watermarks on walls or ceilings
Vapor condensation at door inlets and the space behind furniture.

Ventilating Tools For Winters

Natural ventilation by opening windows and doors is not always possible when it is cold outside. This doesn’t mean you need to live in toxic indoor air for the whole winter. However, the lack of two types of air purifying tools, namely ventilation and filtration, is the basic reason for bad indoor air quality.

Ventilation And Filtration

Ventilation is a term that refers to replacing the clogged inside with the fresh air continuously. While filtration refers to the phenomenon where the indoor air is filtered from air-borne toxins, germs, or bacteria. Ventilation and filtration together can do wonders in cleaning and detoxifying air any time of the year, especially in winters.

Ventilation Options

Many people don’t know that just turning the fan on or opening the windows is not what proper ventilation is. Both techniques are good but not practical in winters when it is freezing outside. You can solve the ventilation problem by installing mechanical ventilation systems such as heat recovery ventilators. The best heat recovery ventilators use heat from the stale outgoing air to heat the incoming fresh air.

Some other options to ventilate your indoor air in winter are

Micro-ventilation

In this approach, you don’t open the window completely. Just a little crack open one in each room to allow a bit of fresh air to enter.

Switch Ceiling Fans To Winter Mode

Modern fans have a switch at the side that reverses its functioning mechanism by turning the blades around. This reverse pulls the cold air up and pushes the warm air downwards.

Run Bathroom And Kitchen Fans

During showering, run the bathroom fan to avoid excess humidity accumulating in the environment and inducing the growth of mold and mildew.

Similarly, when cooking or baking, run the kitchen exhaust fan to avoid the exhaust from the potential toxic stove or oven fumes.

Air Filtration Options

Air filtration is responsible for removing toxins, allergens, and irritants from the air. This can be done in numerous ways.

Installing Quality HVAC System Filters

Filters in the market have ratings from 1 to 20. Higher-rated filters work more effectively and filter out the smallest particulate matter from the air.

Cleaning And Replacing Filters Regularly

Filters trap all the toxins and other harmful particles in them and let the clean air out. These particles clog or block the filters, adversely impacting their functionality. Therefore, it is important to clean and replace the air filters regularly to keep them effective and efficient.

Use Non-ozone Producing Filters

These are the electric filters that use an electric charge to filter the air from toxins and other harmful materials. Make sure you choose the filter that does not produce ozone.

Humidification

Having a room-size humidifier can be helpful in winter. Make sure to get your humidifier cleaned and serviced before fall to utilize it without any inconvenience. Otherwise, a clogged and leaking humidifier will do more bad than good.

A thorough professional check-up and maintenance of humidifiers and HVAC systems before winter is the best way to save yourself from emergency repairs and inconveniences.